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House Speaker: No More Virtual Sessions

AP Photo/Steve Helber

The era of virtual government is about to draw to a close, at least at Virginia’s state capitol.

When the pandemic hit, the oldest continuous lawmaking body in the western hemisphere tried something new: virtual government. The House of Delegates said goodbye to its stately chamber at the Capitol and hello to Zoom.

Now House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn says the next time the chamber gavels into session, it'll be in person.  "I'm really excited about seeing everybody in person and being together. We all miss seeing each other in person," Filler-Corn said after a campaign event in Alexandria. "But we did what we had to do to make sure we could fulfill our obligation and responsibility to 80,000 people, each of us, and do our work responsibly while keeping everybody safe and healthy."

Republican Delegate Emily Brewer of Suffolk says the Senate was able to meet in person, and she says delegates should have been able to have in-person meetings as well.  "When we're in the people's Capitol, we have access to our offices. We have access to additional staff. On top of that, we shut the people out of the people's Capitol, and I think we could have hosted the ability for the public to interface with us in person."

Lawmakers are already talking about a special session, perhaps in August, to name new judges. The special session might even consider some other kinds of bills, although the contours of that probably won't become clear until after the primary in June.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.